Only Mortal
by kcelflover
Summary: Young Estel struggles to fit in among beings blessed with perfection. Can he, with the help of his family, learn to accept himself?
1. Chapter 1

Estel gasped as he felt his foot slip and stayed motionless for a moment before resuming his ascent. He could hear the elflings laughing below him as he struggled up the tree he had been dared to climb.

"He's going to fall. I know it! Humans can't climb trees!" he heard one say as the others continued shouting up their own taunts.

Estel gritted his teeth together and pulled himself up another few feet. He had been on his way home for supper when the group of elflings had literally appeared out of nowhere and blocked his path. Though he had tried to look defiant, he had felt his heart sinking at the sight of them. Estel had never been completely accepted as the only human in Imladris, but this particular group seemed to be worse than the rest of them.

Of course, this wasn't the first time this kind of thing had happened, but it seemed Estel still hadn't learned how to ignore their taunts. He had considered going to his father or the twins about it, but had immediately decided against it. He couldn't go running to his Ada every time he had a slight problem—he was nearly 13 after all!

Estel risked a glance down and immediately regretted it. He was so high up—he shuddered to think what his father or brothers would say if they came across him at this moment.

"What's the matter, human? Scared?" he heard the one he had identified as the ring leader shout out.

Estel looked at the sky and knew he didn't have much more time before Ada sent one of his brother s out to fetch him for supper. Enough was enough. Estel pulled himself up onto the branch he'd been gripping and used the trunk to steady himself as he slowly made his way into a standing position.

As he was contemplating how to best make his way down, the branch he was standing on apparently decided that his human weight was too much to compensate for. Estel heard a deafening cracking noise and looked down in horror as he realized what it was—but it was too late. He felt himself falling through air as his back connected with every possible branch on the way down, and finally after what seemed like forever but was in reality only a few seconds, there was a sickening crack as his body made connection with the hard ground.

Estel struggled to draw air into his suddenly uncooperative lungs with no success, and as his vision darkened around him he thought he could hear the voices of the elflings above him.

"Oh no. Galalith! We've killed him. This is all your fault!" one said.

"Quiet! We don't know that he's dead!"

"What do we do?"

"There's nothing we can do! We can't be caught here! We have to leave!"

"But—"

"No! Do you have any idea what will happen to us if Lord Elrond knows we were responsible for hurting him? We have to leave. Now go!"

And with that, Estel finally lost his hard fought battle with consciousness and everything went black.

With some difficulty, Estel slowly managed to pry his eyes opened, only to feel a moment of panic as he realized it was nearly dark out.

_Oh no! Ada will be so angry!_

Estel quickly sat up, only to gasp as his vision temporarily went dark and he realized that really wasn't such a good idea in his current condition.

_Ugh. I feel almost as bad as that time Elrohir convinced me to jump from the tree into the lake—and missed!_

Trees….trees…..trees! Estel inhaled sharply as the memories of what had happened rushed back to him. He realized he must not have been unconscious too long, though supper was probably nearly over. Estel was surprised his father hadn't sent his brothers out to find him—maybe he had decided Estel had been late for supper far too often lately.

Trying to ignore the increased pounding in his head and the rest of his body that was screaming in protest, Estel slowly rose into a standing position, taking care to keep his weight off of his right leg. After he had gathered his wits somewhat, he gingerly took a step—only to cry out and nearly fall over as his injured ankle exploded in pain.

_I can do this. I was only a few minutes from home when Galalith's group stopped me anyway!_

It seemed to take a lifetime, but fifteen grueling minutes later, Estel had could see the front gates in front of him. Not wanting to make a big scene, Estel used a secret way through the gates his brother's had shown him once. They swore no one besides them three—and Legolas—knew it was there, though Estel found that hard to believe.

_Why does this kind of thing always happen to me?!_

Ten long minutes later, Estel finally found himself at the top of the stairs and paused for a minute to ride out the wave of pain his actions had awoken in his injuries. His breathing finally back to normal, he slipped through the doors and, as quietly as possible with a broken ankle, started up the familiar route to the family quarters, the pain in his ankle growing more unbearable with each second.

Estel would later blame it on his concussed head, but, lost in thought, he failed to notice he was nearing the dining hall in which the rest of his family was currently residing. As he passed, the doors were suddenly thrown open and the sight of a very familiar face caused Estel to freeze in place. The younger twin seemed to be angry about something, most likely whatever it was that caused his rather abrupt exit from the dining hall. As Elrohir's footsteps faded into the distance, Estel released a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding, relieved he hadn't been discovered.

"Late again, are we, penneth?"

The voice from behind him caused him to spin around faster than he would've thought possible in his current state, only to come face to face with the not so amused face of Glorfindel .

_So much for that. I'll never get away now. I'll be lucky if Glorfindel doesn't take one look at my face and drag me straight to Ada!_

Keeping his head down in a last desperate attempt to prevent Glorfindel from noticing anything, all hopes of a quiet night in bed flew out the window as Glorfindel continued speaking.

"You know, you really shouldn't worry your father like this. And your brothers! When your father wouldn't let them come out and look for you themselves, they were ready to send out a search party! Really, Estel, you are old enough now that you really should be able to….Estel? Are you all right?"

During Glorfindel's lecture, the room had begun swaying slightly for Estel, causing him to grab onto the wall for support as he waited for his vision to refocus.

When Estel refused to answer, Glorfindel narrowed his eyes and said, "Well, I've tried. I suppose I'd better leave the rest to your father."

At this, Estel's head shot up in panic, which he soon realized was a mistake as the room tilted dangerously and his world momentarily went dark. He felt himself falling and prepared himself for imminent contact with the hard floor, only to feel strong arms catch him at the last second and lower him to the floor. As his head began to clear, he thought he could hear voices speaking to him, and he stuggled to understand what they were saying.

"…stel?...hear me….penneth?"

He heard the voice shouting something, though it seemed to be directed at someone else, then heard the sound of footsteps hurrying away from them.

Estel opened his eyes to see the slightly blurry face of Glorfindel, which looked to be a mixture of worry, concern, and….fear? That can't be right. Glorfindel wasn't afraid of anything! He had slayed a balrog after all!

Just as he had opened his mouth to make an attempt at voicing his thoughts, he heard the unmistakable sound of running footsteps, and his heart sank. There was only one person in this entire palace—well, ok, two—who would run through the halls in such an improper manner. Said person had just crashed to his knees at Estel's side, causing Estel to wince inwardly. He was sure that would cause some pretty nice bruises later.

"Estel!" he heard the anguished cry of his brother. "Oh, what have you done this time, tithen gwador?"

Estel turned his head slightly toward the voice's source, and was dismayed to find that, with his blurred vision, he could not tell which of the twins he was speaking to. He had not confused the twins since he was three!

Finally hazarding a guess, Estel tried to speak, but was surprised at how raspy and weak his voice sounded.

"Elladan?" he croaked, and seeing his brother's frown deepen, he could have hit himself. It was Elrohir then.

"Nay, little brother, it is I, Elrohir. Stay awake Estel, Ada will be here soon!"

As if on cue, footsteps could be heard, somehow managing to sound hurried yet dignified at the same time—a far cry from Elrohir's panicked running moments before.

Estel sensed more than saw the small crowd that had gathered around them part as the elf lord rushed to his son's side.

"Ada?" Estel croaked, struggling to keep his eyes open.

"Yes, Estel, I am here", Elrond said, stroking his son gently on the forehead as he did a visual sweep for any obvious injuries. His eyes finally fixed on the long, no longer bleeding gash on Estel's forehead and the very dark, colorful bruise that was starting to surround it.

"I need you to stay awake for me, my son, and tell me where you hurt."

"Head hur's. N' my an'le", Estel managed to slur out, though he could feel his eyes closing against his will.

"Estel? Estel! Stay awake! You cannot sleep yet!" he heard his father say.

"M' sorry Ada. M' so tire'", he tried to say, though he doubted anyone could understand much of what he was trying to say anymore as it came out as more of a mumble.

He could hear his father's along with Elrohir's voice shouting, pleading with him, but he could not understand what they were saying as he gave a final sigh and allowed himself to sink into the welcoming oblivion.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here it is! Chapter 2! For those of you that reviewed chapter 1—thank you! Your positive feedback is what helps me to keep writing.**

**I don't expect this story to be too long, maybe a couple more chapters. But who knows, we'll just have to wait and see where the storyline leads us. **

**Anyway, enjoy! Don't forget to keep reviewing (;**

He could hear noises. Voices were buzzing around him, though he could not make out anything they were saying.

As he slowly made his way towards awareness, he started to become more aware of the various aches and pains of his body, and began to think maybe he should have just stayed unconscious.

Estel finally managed to pry open his eyes, only to immediately squeeze them shut when they were assaulted by the stabbing pain of the rooms light. On his second attempt, he managed to keep them open and glanced around the room, and with a sinking feeling, realized he was the healing house of Imladris.

His eyes came to rest upon the other figures in the room—namely, two identical elves who were currently fast asleep on two couches they had dragged into the room from Valar-knows-where.

Estel opened his mouth, intending to wake his brothers with a smart comment, only to realize how dry his mouth was and how thirsty he was. Eyes darting around the room, he spotted a pitcher of the most glorious looking water he had ever seen—on the other side of the room of course. Without second thought, Estel leapt out of bed, only to let out a cry of pain and crumple to the floor when he put weight on his forgotten—and apparently broken—ankle.

Curling in on himself and grabbing his ankle in a death grip, Estel didn't even realize that his cry had woken his brothers, and he was in too much pain to notice them waking. That is, until he heard a shocked cry from behind him, and turned his head just in time to see Elladan spring from the couch, Elrohir close behind him.

"Estel! What in Arda are you doing?!" Elladan cried as he knelt by his little brother's side.

Elrohir knelt on Estel's other side, and he felt his heart clench as Estel looked up at him with pain filled gray eyes that were currently swimming with tears.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I just wanted a drink of water. I didn't even remember that I'd hurt my ankle!" Estel cried in anguish.

Elladan's eyes softened as he looked at Estel and the obvious pain he was in.

"Elrohir, go get Ada. I will see what damage Estel has done to himself this time."

Elrohir nodded, and with one last glance at his brothers, went in search of Lord Elrond.

Elladan looked back at Estel and sighed.

"Estel, I need you to let go of your ankle so I can look at it." Upon seeing Estel's obvious reluctance, Elladan tried again, "Please, Estel! I need to make sure it does not need to be reset."

After a few moments, Estel nodded and slowly began to remove his hands, wincing when he saw his ankle. He was sure it hadn't looked that bad a few minutes ago!

Elladan seemed to be under the same impression as he gently took Estel's ankle into his hands, examining the new swelling and bruising.

Just when Elladan had decided that, while Estel had aggravated the injury, he had not misaligned the bones at all, the door opened and Elrohir walked back in, accompanied this time by their father and Glorfindel.

"Trying to escape already, were we, penneth?" Glorfindel said with an amused twinkle in his eye that didn't quite hide the underlying concern that was still visible there.

Estel flushed. Yes, he was not exactly the most patient person whenever he found himself hurt or sick, but he was not nearly as bad as Glorfindel made him out to be sometimes!

"No! I swear! I—I—" Estel managed to splutter out before he was interrupted once again by Glorfindel.

"Peace, young one. I was speaking only in jest. Now calm yourself and let us get you back into bed so your father can have a look at you."

Estel quieted and turned to stare at the floor as his brothers gently picked him up and set him on top of the bedcovers, humiliated at his current predicament.

As his father silently worked on checking and rebinding his various injuries, Estel started resolutely at the opposite wall. All the elves present looked on worriedly as the boy seemed to withdraw further and further into himself, until, finally, Elrond had had enough.

"Elladan, Elrohir—Glorfindel—I thank you for your help, but I need to speak with Estel now." Elrond said, his eyes communicating more than his words.

The three elves immediately understood what conversation was about to take place and stood up to leave without complaint. Elrohir, always the more gentle of the twins, paused in the doorway, and with one last sympathetic look at his younger brother, left, closing the door behind him.

The sound of the door scraping shut against the stone wall seemed to ring with an air of finality as a heavy silence filled the room. Estel looked anywhere but his father, knowing what was about to happen.

He sensed more than saw his father draw closer and felt his gaze boring into the side of his head, and, sure enough—

"How did this happen Estel? Please, ion-nin, the truth."

Hearing the concern and quiet plea in his Adar's words made Estel's insides squirm, and he glanced up, only to quickly avert his eyes again. He didn't want to lie to his father, he really didn't! But he also couldn't tell him the truth—he had to handle this problem on his own.

As Estel's silence dragged on, Elrond sighed and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. He had seen the flash of emotion that went through his son's eyes in the split second he'd made eye contact, and could only hope he would tell him the truth about what was going on. Elrond already suspected that this had something to do with the other elflings—one or two in particular—whom he had seen taunt Estel cruelly for no other reason than the fact that he was human. But his son had never come to him regarding any problems and, disregarding the occasional bump or bruise, Estel had never shown any signs of physical hurt, so Elrond hadn't thought it serious enough to interfere. He had also suspected that any interference on his part over such seemingly minor issues would only worsen the problem. But if those elflings had been behind this, he would no longer be able to sit idly back and do nothing.

"Estel?" he prompted, and his son jerked, as if his father's call had pulled him out of some rather unpleasant thoughts.

The child swallowed, then turned to face his father, trying to compose a blank expression that would not reveal his true feelings.

"It's nothing Ada. Really. I was just trying to climb some trees and fell down when I was halfway up. You know me—just a clumsy human. I don't know what I was thinking, thinking I could climb as well as an elf." His voice took on a bitter edge towards the end of his explanation, causing Elrond's worry to spike up a notch. Call it a father's intuition, but he could also tell that Estel wasn't being completely honest with him.

"Estel, if something is going on—"

"I said I'm fine! Why can't you all just leave me alone!" Estel burst out, cutting his father off.

Elrond felt his mouth drop open in surprise, but quickly snapped it shut again. His son had never interrupted him before. He was usually so respectful—what could have gotten into him?

"Very well. I will leave you to your rest—and that is exactly what you are going to do, rest. You are not to leave this bed until I say you may. But, Estel, you know that if you ever need to talk to someone—about anything—I am here, as are your brothers. We worry about you because we care."

Estel nodded jerkily, angry at himself for losing control like that. Staring at his bed sheets, he saw his father hesitate for a second more before turning around and disappearing, letting the door fall shut behind him.

Estel stared after him for some time before he finally gave in to the encroaching darkness and let sleep overcome him.

**There you go! I was nice this time and didn't leave too much of a cliff hanger at the end(: This chapter may not have been as suspenseful as the last one, but don't worry—we'll get there!**

**Review! **


	3. Chapter 3

Breakfast the next morning was a quiet affair. Elrond had tried to start up several conversations with his twin sons—without much success, as their eyes kept drifting to the empty chair Estel usually occupied.

Though Estel was still technically confined to bed, Elrond had given him leave to attend meals with the rest of them starting this morning. The fact that he was not present was only serving to increase Elrond's nagging worry that all was not right with his youngest.

Finally, after Elladan had sighed loudly for the umpteenth time and Elrohir continued to distractedly pick at his food, Elrond had had enough. Setting down his own fork, he braced himself for what he was about to ask, knowing the torrent it would cause.

"Alright, you two. You have made your point. Now speak your minds."

Two identical heads snapped up at this comment, and almost immediately opened their mouths to speak.

"Oh Ada, it is Estel—"

"He has been acting so oddly, and we can tell he isn't telling us everything—"

"There's more to his injuries than he wants us to know and—"

"We're so worried and we need to—"

"Enough!" Elrond finally interrupted, holding up his hands, causing both of his sons to fall silent.

"I know you are worried about your brother—I am as well. However, whether or not he is telling the truth about the nature of his injuries is not your concern at the moment. Leave that to me. Now if you would both be so kind as to go retrieve Estel and find out why he has not attended the meal, perhaps all our minds would be slightly more at ease."

Elladan and Elrohir nodded, standing and quickly leaving the dining hall to trace the familiar path to the family quarters. Upon reaching the door, the twins glanced at each other, before Elrohir reached up and knocked loudly. Receiving no response, he frowned before knocking again, more forcefully this time. When there was still no reply forthcoming, the twins had apparently had enough and let themselves into the room.

"Estel! You had better have a very good reason for—" Elladan started heatedly, only to stop abruptly when he ran into Elrohir, who had stopped dead right in front of him. "Elrohir, what…?" he stepped around his twin, only to trail off when his eyes found the sight in front of him. He felt panic start to seep into his body as he took in the empty room, curtains billowing gently in the breeze that blew in from the open balcony doors.

Estel cursed under his breath as he tripped for what seemed like the millionth time as he made his way through the forest. He was starting to regret his rash actions. He'd been walking for nearly four hours with no particular direction in mind—besides simply _away_. His feet hurt, his head pounded, and he was hungry—too late he realized he'd neglected to pack any food in haste to leave.

He wasn't running away—not really, or at least that's what he kept telling himself. He'd only meant to go on a short walk, though admittedly deeper into the woods than he was really allowed to go. He felt a familiar twist of guilt as he thought of his family back in Imladris. They'd surely realized he was missing by now, and he knew they would probably be beside themselves with worry. But he shoved this thought to the back of his mind and instead focused on the real reason he had felt such a burning need to get away.

Recently, what with the taunting he'd been forced to endure from the increasingly bold elflings, he'd started to believe some of what they were telling him. Humans really were weak and pathetic—and didn't belong in Imladris, among the perfection and beauty of the elves.

Though he'd steadfastly refuted all such claims to their faces, telling them that his family loved him, a seed of doubt had been steadily growing in his mind, growing stronger with each subsequent insult. A wave of bitterness and despair swept over the boy, and for a moment Estel felt he might break down.

A branch snapping nearby brought Estel sharply back to the present, and he realied he'd been completely zoning out his surroundings. As he caught up with reality, Estel realized just how quiet the woods had become and stopped dead.

A low growl sounded behind him. Feeling his blood turn to ice, Estel slowly rotated around, dreading what he might see—and came face to face with a beast he'd only heard his brothers tell stories about— a very ugly, very hungry looking warg.

"I want every inch of the palace and surrounding grounds searched, immediately", came Elrond's terse command to Glorfindel as he swept down the empty corridor, rapid footsteps echoing through the hall, "and if nothing is found I want search parties readied to depart within the hour".

Elladan and Elrohir struggled to keep up with their father and Glorfindel, determined not to be left out of the search for their little brother. As soon as they'd entered Estel's empty room and realized what had happened, they had barreled into their father's study in a panic. Their father had looked about to rebuke them for interrupting his meeting with Glorfindel, until he noticed the fear etched onto their normally handsome, serene faces.

Which brought them to the present. Glorfindel, looking more serious than the twins could remember seeing him for a long time, nodded his head before heading quickly in the other direction to assemble the search party.

"As for you two", Elrond started, "pack your bags. You also need to be ready to depart within the hour, when the search parties leave."

Nodding, the twins turned to go.

"Oh, and Elrohir, would you grab my cloak and my sword on your way down?"

Both twins stopped dead, turning to gawk at their father.

"Wha…wait, you are coming with us on the search?" Elrohir spluttered.

"Ada! Who will be left in charge!" Elladan exclaimed nearly at the same moment.

The twins had rarely seen their father leave Imladris—there had rarely been need for it. However, they supposed with the current situation, they really shouldn't be too surprised.

"Let me worry about that. Now go! I want to leave as soon as possible. I shudder to think what may be happening to Estel out there on his own, and darkness fast approaches."

Snapping themselves out of their shock, the twins once again turned away and prepared themselves for departure, praying all the while that Estel was alright.

**Here's chapter 3! I know, it's been forever since I updated. I don't even know how long. All I can say is that I've been super stressed with school lately. Those darn AP classes will be the death of me, I swear. **

**Thanks to all who reviewed last time, and please do so again! Hope you enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think. I promise I'll try to get better about updating(:**


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